SasoDei - Ocean Blues
by AkatsukiMemberWoolfy
Summary: Sequel to Underneath Thunderstorms. Sasori is still struggling to come to terms with his new ocean-lifestyle, but with a merman like Deidara by his side, he knows that he can come to terms with what he has become. However, his struggles are still far from over, and his new life takes a turn for the worst when he is captured. After all, you can make a lot of money off of a merman.
1. Chapter 1

**SasoDei - Ocean Blues**

A Sequel to Underneath Thunderstorms

**Part One**

**A Commission for TerraKuman97**

He could do it; he just knew that he could. The distance was short enough. With legs he would have been able to make the short trip with ease, but when your legs were replaced with something different, like a friggen TAIL, things got a little…complicated.

Sasori went flying through the water. While it seemed majestic in thought, in reality he looked like a worm writhing on burning concrete. He ended up swimming too close to the ocean floor, and his tail collided with a large rock. At the disturbance, Sasori went flying backwards, undergoing many non-consensual summersaults through the water as he did so. "Dammit!"

He felt like he was going to be seasick…if it were even possible for a merman to get seasick, that is.

Soon his somersaulting came to a halt, and he was left to sit on the sandy floor while he attempted to overcome his latest bout of nausea. It had been a week since the red head had both become a merman and joined the Akatsuki merfolk, and it had been one of the strangest weeks of his life.

The ocean was cold, the food was nothing like home, and swimming was both tiring and troublesome. Sometimes he wondered if he could find a beach somewhere and outgrow his tail; to run with legs once more upon some fine shore. He did not care for the ocean, or the idea of having a tail for the rest of his life.

But then he always remembered Deidara.

The merman who had spent most of his life waiting for the red head to come to him. That boy with his beautiful body, his utopian eyes and his golden, blonde hair. Sasori was his life, and he knew that he could continue his tailed existence for the sake of his love. He had remained a merman, and he tried his best to complain only in his private thoughts…At least he assumed they were private. The Akatsuki had a way with telepathy that still confused him.

Sasori sighed and looked around from where he now sat, perched upon a lowly rock upon the ocean floor. The waters were crystal, and he could just barely make out the top of his undersea home from where he sat. Deidara and the others had left to hunt, but Sasori was still inept in many of the underwater abilities that the others had learnt from birth. That was why he was here, trying to better his swimming while having a bi-racial crisis at the same time. Two birds with one stone…or two fish with one hook - that seemed to be the more suitable saying.

"Come on, Sasori." He perked up and puffed out his chest, trying to motivate his lowly soul. "You have to learn how to swim without making a damn fool out of yourself, or else you will never be allowed to go hunting with the rest of them!" He paused for a second before sighing, losing what little energy he had left. "Ugh, why do I even want to go hunting with them? I don't even like the taste of fish…"

He relaxed and succumbed to the ocean's gentle push and pull, staring at the sunshine that belonged to the other world. It was so far away now, and yet it still reached him in the depths of the sea. Surely it would not hurt to feel the sun upon his face one more time…

Sasori straightened up and cautiously swam to the surface. He cut through the water like a fish, and broke the surface easily. The red head gasped in the oxygen that he no longer needed, and felt the sunlight warm his pale cheeks. It was glorious. A small smile spread across his lips as he drunk in the shine of the sun, and for a moment he forgot everything.

He forgot who he was, and he forgot what he was. He forgot the Akatsuki, and even his beloved. Everything was lost in sunlight.

But only for a moment. It only took Sasori a moment to recall all that he was and all that he had, and his first response was to look around. Relief swept over him once he confirmed that there were no ships nearby, and he simply continued to wade in the water and drink in the warm glow of the sunlight.

He could not understand why he felt so strangely homesick for a world he had never even felt connected to. The people were few and forgotten, and his house had never truly held the title of home either. It had only been a week since he had left, and he was already yearning for sunshine and dry land!

"Dammit…" He shook his head to clear it and looked back into the water, noticing a figure far below him. The red head dived below the water surface and he had indeed noticed a humanoid figure on the seafloor. A mermaid with blonde hair and a violet tail was tending to some flower-like plants that grew on a small rocky-field. He had not even noticed the pull of the current, but he was still fairly certain that he was in Akatsuki territory.

He swam down to the girl and after a few moments he was able to attract her attention. She looked up at the merman and smiled brightly, righting herself in the water. Around her neck was a Konoha shell necklace. "Good morning. Did I disturb you?"

"No," Sasori quickly shook his head and he glanced down at the flowers inquisitively, having never seen them before. "Did I stray into Konoha territory accidentally? I'm pretty new around here…"

"Oh no," she smiled and waved a friendly hand at him, "this is still Akatsuki territory. I've been coming here for years. The flowers that grow here are beautiful, and I love tending to them. Konan said that it was fine as long as I didn't cause any trouble, and I never have." She extended her tail to the red head in a greeting similar to a handshake, "I am Ino, by the way. You must be Sasori."

"Yes." He nodded while attempting to move his tail forward, but he used a bit too much effort and ended up somersaulting through the water. Sasori groaned with embarrassment while the mermaid giggled lightly.

"Don't worry; you will get used to it. In any case, it is good to meet you." She nodded her head pleasantly before turning her attention back to the flowers.

Sasori righted himself in the water, a light flush on his face as he looked around. The mermaid was consumed once again with her flower tending, and the red head knew that the conversation was over. He began to swim further in the untravelled direction, but knew he would have to be cautious. Konoha territory was probably nearby. One flower-crazed mermaid was not something worth fearing, but a flock of them would be a different story.

While he was swimming, he noticed a school of large fish tearing through the water, and his mind was once again drawn back to the Akatsuki. They were off hunting fish somewhere, while Pein had decided that Sasori was too inept to join them. "If I can catch a fish and bring it back, maybe they will let me go on the next hunt." Sasori stared at the school thoughtfully before deciding that, even if he failed, it would still be good swimming practice.

He sped through the water towards the school, his eyes locked onto the largest of the group. Yes, if he brought that one back he would at least make Deidara proud. With his love in mind, he swam as fast as he could after the fish, catching up before he even realised it. The school grew panicked at his presence and began to dart around, just as he was reaching for the largest fish. It slipped from his grip and he started to struggle to keep up with the school. Each fish darted in a different direction, and he desperately fought to keep his attention to the largest of the group.

He had to catch that fish. He had to prove his worth to the Akatsuki. Sasori reached out again for the morsel, but it evaded him once again. He continued his quest, his mind set solely on the fish.

He reached his hand out again and finally grabbed the food by the fins. "Gotcha!" He smiled to himself, a giddy relief sweeping over him, but it only lasted for a moment.

-o-

Deidara and the others had been hunting for food along a deep, rocky ridge, but the blonde was more preoccupied with his thoughts of Sasori. He felt bad since the red head had been told that he could not join them, and the blonde almost wished that he had stayed behind with him. Deidara could have offered him some swimming lessons, or he could have taught him about the underwater plant life. Instead, he was out here with the others, and his lover was back at home, probably sulking. "Are we almost done, un?"

"That's the twenty-fucking-fifth time you have asked that, blondie!" Hidan smacked Deidara on the head and the blonde retaliated by slapping him back. The albino merman stuck his tongue out before offering an immature grin. "Man Blondie, you're so fucking needy for this guy! I'm sure that dick bag doesn't mind having some time to himself."

"You think so?" Deidara frowned and Konan swam up to them, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Sasori can join us for future hunts. In the meantime, he needs to learn about being a merman at his own pace. Trust me, it takes a while to adjust to this lifestyle. Even if you didn't have the best experience with land living, it is still difficult to give up." She smiled at him, but all he could do was pout.

"I still don't understand what is so great about the land. It's dry, sunlight burns, and all the humans are evil, un."

"You're forgetting, Dei Sweetie; a week ago Sasori was a human, and he was never evil." He was silent, and she continued to poke at the flaw in the blonde's logic, "I was once a human, and I was never evil."

"I disagree." Hidan grinned widely at her, "I always thought you were fucking evil. Shit, all of the complaining you used to do gave me fucking migraines! It's too fucking cold, it's too fucking dark, I hate having a tail, blah, blah, blah!"

In an irascible feat, Konan managed a summersault, smacking the albino across the face with her tail fin in the process. He groaned in pain before glaring at her, but she was quick to speak before he could unleash his string of angry, foul words. "Look Deidara, Sasori will be just fine."

"You don't think that Danna will leave me, right?" Deidara frowned and ran an anxious hand through his flowing blonde hair. "He won't leave me just to have legs, un? I know that he misses life on land, even if the people were so bad to him."

"If he returns to land, then that is his own decision, and we must all respect it." Pein swam towards the small group, a handmade net in hand with various fish and crustaceans captured inside of it. "Even you Deidara. Also remember that just as Sasori has the choice of living in the ocean, you have the choice of living on land as well."

"I don't want to live on the land." His face grew disgusted at the mere thought alone. "I hate humans, and the sun, and…What are those strange things they have on them called? Clothes. I fucking hate clothes, un! They're so weird."

Konan laughed and patted the blonde on the back, "Trust me, Deidara, clothes are actually pretty necessary when you are a human."

"Well they look weird, un!"

"In any case," Konan ruffled Deidara's hair to reassure him, "I think that Sasori will stay with us, just like I did. It will be hard, but I am sure that he can pull through."

Suddenly, a sharp ringing filled their ears. The group was all too familiar with the sound, having only heard it a mere week ago when Deidara had been captured.

Danger. A member of the Akatsuki was in danger.

"Danna!" Deidara felt his heart skip a beat, and they all knew that it could not have been transmitted by anyone else.

The ringing only sounded for a short time before it was replaced with the sound of silence. There was a moment of disconnection that went through all of the Akatsuki clan.

Sasori's presence had disappeared.

-x-

The red head had finally managed to grab the fish that he had sought; that was when everything shifted.

Suddenly the fish were all around him, clustered and struggling. He did not even realise what was happening until it was too late. Sasori felt himself get pulled out of the water, along with the school of fish he had followed for far too long. His tail disappeared as soon as he lost contact with the ocean, but it was still impossible to escape from the netting that had scooped him up. "Captain, we got a live one!"

The voice was unknown to Sasori, and he could barely see the world beyond the fish and the net. That was until he was abruptly dropped onto the deck.

The net fell away and fish splayed everywhere. In his hand, the large morsel that he had wanted so badly was forgotten, yet still it struggled aimlessly against him. The sunlight was harsh against his skin and was no longer the comforting condolence that it had been only minutes before.

But then the sun was gone. A towering figure stood before him; tall, menacing, and disturbingly familiar.

"Well, look what the net dragged in~" The man was smiling down at the red head, with a tone of irony set deep in his words. "It has been far too long, my friend." Black hair, pale skin and a pair of unforgettable, golden eyes. The eyes of a snake.

"Orochimaru…" The red head spoke the name cautiously, making sure he stated it carefully.

A short, amused laugh filled the air, and the next moment a hand was being offered to him. "Look at this, boys. This is a man who has been lost at sea for the past week, and yet he has managed to survive all on his own." From the crew came a few cheers and gasps, but Sasori never took his eyes from Orochimaru's.

He took the offered hand slowly and stood, letting go of the fish that he had already forgotten. "Did you find me by chance, or was this a search and rescue?" Sasori noticed his nakedness in front of the entire ship, and his human side recalled his need for modesty.

Orochimaru seemed to notice the yearning as well, for only a few moments later, the snake was draping his own coat over Sasori's shoulders. The red head was surprised by the act, and he was quick to pull the warm jacket shut, his modesty momentarily restored. Orochimaru leaned in close, and his calamitous smile never left him for a second. "A little bit of both."

He knew. Orochimaru knew what he was. What he had become…

"This way, Sasori. You can rest within my chambers." He took the red head by the arm, and his fingers dug into his skin tightly without any of the crew noticing. His voice dropped and there was a familiar sharpness in his eyes as he stood tall above the red head. "Don't go jumping back into the ocean now. We don't want to have to go through the trouble of fishing you out again, right?"

Those of the crew who heard the remark simply laughed, assuming that it was a simple joke, but Sasori knew better. All he could do was nod and allow the snake to take him to the captain's cabin, where the door was shut tightly behind them.

"Poor little Saso~" Orochimaru let go of him at last, and the red head quickly spun around to face him, backing up several paces. The snake laughed and stepped towards him, "I honestly was not expecting to find you this easily." Sasori paced backwards, but the larger man simply matched each step with his own, until the red head was backed into the corner of the room. Orochimaru was right in front of him. A thin finger ran up Sasori's chin, tilting his head upwards, and the snake's smile grew sinisterly dark.

"Don't touch me." Sasori bore his teeth at the man, but he could not risk batting the hand away, lest he uncover himself. "Why are you here?"

"The crew of the Lightning Queen were far too excited to keep their mouths shut." Orochimaru ran a finger over Sasori's lips, sending a disgusted shudder through his body. "They talked and they talked and they talked. You should be thanking me really; I managed to shut most of them up…for good."

Sasori hesitated. "What did they say?"

"Mermaids, mermaids and mermaids. That seemed to be the hot topic of conversation. They spoke of how they had caught themselves two mermen, one of which had been secretly aboard their boat the entire time~" Orochimaru leaned in closer, and all Sasori could do was pull the coat tighter around his exposed body. "And through it all, you never returned. Neither did Sakura, but let's be honest here; she was an idiot. Whatever fate she met, I am sure she deserved." He leaned steadily closer, pausing only mere centimetres from the red head's lips. "Now, I wonder what would happen if I kissed a merman…?"

Sasori swallowed and managed the darkest glare he could muster. "I kissed a merman once. If you enjoy having legs, then I wouldn't recommend it."

Orochimaru was still and silent as he slowly ran his fingers over Sasori's lips, but his sickening smile appeared only moments later. "Then I guess I will just have to resist the temptation. Although I must say, it is strange how alluring you have become ever since your transformation. I guess it's the spell of the species…" Orochimaru finally backed away, leaving Sasori feeling out of breath, with his heart hammering heavily in his chest. Even when he had been mortal, he had always been unsure in trusting Orochimaru, and he was all too familiar with the effect that merfolk had on humans.

"You still haven't told me why you are here…" Sasori shivered, but it was not from the cold.

The snake looked him up and down, before taking a moment to lick his lips. "You could get a lot of money from a merfolk. It doesn't matter if they are a male or a female, whether they are young or old, nor even if they are attractive. A merfolk is a merfolk. You can earn a lot of money…Boil them into a gourmet stew, sell their tail as an expensive medicine, take photos to sell to anyone who wants one, sell them to science, or you can just put them on display until the end of days~" He paused once again to eye the red head, before nodding in affirmation. "You can earn a lot of money from a merfolk."

"So then, what is to be my fate?" Sasori stood as tall as he could, never unlocking his gaze with Orochimaru's.

The snake shrugged far too casually, and he licked his lips once more. "None of the above. Having ownership of a merman is surely one of the quickest routes to having your throat slit while you sleep. Sakura was far too stupid to ever think of that little problem in her dream. No, I plan to get you off of my hands as quickly as I can, and selling you to the highest bidder sounds absolutely perfect~"

At that moment there was a knock on the door, and a crewmate's voice sounded a few seconds later. "Captain, we require you on deck to decide our next course."

"I will be there shortly." Orochimaru waited for the man to leave before turning back to the red head. "You are a smart man, Sasori, but I will say this anyway. I am the only one on board who knows what you are, so if I were you I wouldn't go around telling anyone the truth." He stepped closer to the red head, still grinning sadistically. "If they were to find out, they would be sure to slit my throat, before all turning upon you. They might be merciful and just murder you straight out for being the half-breed monster that you are, or they might be a tad more…desperate." He took another step forward, and Sasori glowered at him darkly. "These men haven't seen a woman for at least a week, and it is just as I said earlier…It doesn't matter if you are male or a female, whether you are young or old, or even if you are attractive. A merfolk is a merfolk." With that said, Orochimaru abruptly cupped the red head's face and kissed him roughly.

Forgetting about his modesty entirely, the red head shoved the snake away from him, exposing himself in the process. He felt sick to his stomach, but Orochimaru seemed undeterred as he eyed the red head's naked body.

"I guess even I am not immune to the spell of the merfolk." The snake winked at him before tapping a foot upon the wooden flooring. "Oh, and look; I still have my legs~" He tilted his hat at Sasori and offered him a wink. "Don't go swimming off now. I'll have someone outside the door to make sure you don't go rushing off in your 'traumatised' state. Being stranded at sea for a week straight can really affect a man. Besides, we don't want to have to get the harpoons out, do we?" He laughed and turned on his heel, leaving the red head alone in the room.

Sasori was shaking, and he collapsed the moment the snake had shut the door behind him. He cupped his mouth, and a sudden feeling of guilt swept over him. True it had not been a consensual kiss, but he still felt as though he had betrayed Deidara. Sasori looked up at the door as realisation struck him. No one knew where he was.

He quickly grabbed hold of his shell necklace, and attempted to contact the Akatsuki with his mind. _Hello, Hello? This is Sasori. I have been taken aboard a strange ship and I need help. _He paused, and tried again, but there was no response. He could not reach them if he were out of the ocean. "Why did I chase that stupid fish?" Sasori banged his head on the cabin wall, feeling utterly helpless.

-x-

The Akatsuki had split up in search of Sasori, with Konan and Hidan sticking with Deidara as they journeyed to the red head's usual practice grounds. "Maybe the dick bag has just decided to take a stroll on a fucking beach or something." The albino shrugged, but they all knew that that could not be the truth. That subconscious cry of danger could not have been a fluke, especially from someone who had only been a merman for a mere week.

He had been in danger and had left the water. Whether he had been taken, or if he had moved to land to escape was unknown, but in any case it would take them a long time to find him. "Danna usually practices his swimming around here, un. He has to be around here somewhere." Deidara was biting his lip anxiously, and he knew that finding a fish out of water was nearly impossible. Humans had taken his mother and killed her; what if the same thing happened to Sasori?

If Sasori died, then Deidara would be free to find himself another mate, but that did not seem like an option. He had waited too long for the red head to just give up now. Besides, Sasori was still alive. Deidara could feel it in his heart, just as he had felt the red head's life since he had first been promised to the human.

"Come on." Konan's voice was optimistic, but Deidara still noticed the worry that was hidden in her tone. "He can't have gotten too far."

-x-

In the meantime, Sasori had managed to regain his composure. Not only did modesty begin to scratch at his mind again, but so did the cold, and he decided that, if he was going to have legs, he would also require clothing.

The cabin was of a decent size, but was windowless and only had one entryway. Sasori did not even need to check the doorway to see if it was guarded on the other side; Orochimaru would not have bothered to lie about such a thing, and he would certainly have enough crew to spare one as a guardsman.

He went through drawers and cupboards, but found that Orochimaru had been sure to leave very little lying around. However, Sasori did manage to find one thing.

A pair of clothes. Or, more exactly, _his _pair of clothes.

A long, red jacket, black pants with matching boots and a familiar blouse had been carefully hung up in the wardrobe, and he recognised them from his own wardrobe back at home. He had rarely worn them, and he had refused to wear them on his last voyage with Sakura aboard the Lightning Queen.

The feeling of sickness returned abruptly once he realised that Orochimaru must have gone through his house back on land just to obtain the outfit, and he realised just how sure of himself Orochimaru had been. He had set out looking for Sasori, and he had known that he would find him.

He cleared the thoughts from his mind and grabbed the clothes, knowing that he would feel a lot more comfortable once he was dressed. Sasori was clothed in no time, but the outfit felt strangely foreign after a week in the ocean, where just the idea of clothes was a joke.

He quickly adjusted to the feeling of fabric and tried to come to terms with his situation. Orochimaru had told him that he would be sold off to the highest bidder, but who knew what that person would want to do to him!

Sasori placed Orochimaru's coat onto the table, glowering at it darkly. "I'm a damn fool." He ran his hand through his hair, and again he tried to send a message to the Akatsuki, but he knew that it was hopeless. "Even if I had caught that fish, I doubt they would have let me hunt with them anyway. I should have just gone back after running into that blonde girl." The red head sighed and slumped down into the captain's chair, feeling the weight of the world upon his shoulders. "In any case, I'm here now and no one knows where I am. They will probably just assume that I decided to become a human again."

But had he not wanted to be a human again? He had felt so homesick not long ago.

"No, I don't want to go back." Sasori looked up and spoke his resolve aloud, to prove it to himself. "I want to stay in the ocean. I want to stay with the Akatsuki, and I want to stay with Deidara. I want to stay." He paused, before he felt his chest sink back into the depths of woe. "But what use is there in saying it now?"


	2. Chapter 2

**SasoDei - Ocean Blues**

A Sequel to Underneath Thunderstorms

**Part Two**

**A Commission for TerraKuman97**

Two days had passed since the red head's disappearance, and there was still no sign of him. Many of the Akatsuki had relinquished their search to return to the normality of the merfolk lifestyle, but Deidara and Konan had yet to give up. They had spent each day searching Sasori's usual swimming locations, but with little luck.

Deidara refused to believe that Sasori would have just left him without a single word, and Konan thought the same thing. After all, she had once had to make the decision between the ocean and the land many years before. However, chances of finding the red head grew slimmer with every day that passed.

"We're never going to find him, un!" Deidara bit his lip in dismay, but it was not dismay that he felt, but anger. "After all those years of waiting for him, and then he goes and gets himself kidnapped! He could have been eaten by a fucking shark for all we know, un!" He growled and continued to gnaw at his lip.

"We will find him, Deidara; alive and in one piece." She smiled, but neither the gesture nor her words could appease him of his anger. He thought that, after waiting so many years for Sasori, he would finally be able to live a happy, unlonesome life. He felt cheated by the world.

"Why did my mother have to promise me to a human anyway, un? She could have just worked up the courage to walk onto the shore and grab me herself, but no. She just had to wait for someone else to come and help me! I can just imagine the thought that went through her mind once little Sasori toddled down to the shoreline and found me!" He raised the pitch of his voice mockingly and batted his eyes, his actions emphasised with fury. "'Oh, look at that human! I bet he will be haaaaandsome when he grows up! Oh, I know! I will promise him to my newborn son! I am suuuure that they would make such a lovely couple! What about his inevitable hate for humans? Oh, I am suuuure he won't mind! Oh, and the fact that he is a baby and therefore I don't even know his ultimate sexuality? Pfft, he's my son; of course he will be into men when he is older!' Gee, thanks a lot, mother, un!"

"Well," Konan grinned as best she could, "at least she got that last point right."

Deidara shot her a warning look, before sighing away his frustrations. "Don't get me wrong…I loved my mother, and I love Sasori. I love him with all that I am. That's why I am so angry at the world…I know that I have you guys, but I have always felt so damn lonely all the time. That finally went away when I was with Sasori, un…" He smiled for a moment, but it faded all too soon, "If the world takes him from me, just like they took my mother, then I know that I will always be lonely. I cannot live like that. Never again."

"I know, Dei." Konan placed a hand on his shoulder, but even she could not force a reassuring smile anymore. She knew that it was like to be lonely. When she had been a teenager - and still human - her parents, siblings and home had been lost in a fire that had swept through the town. Konan had only survived because she had been sleeping with her window open, against the wishes of her parents. As soon as the flames were in her room, she was out of the house, not even thinking about her mother and father and sisters until it was too late.

She had lost everything. The only life that had awaited her was of streets, poverty and prostitution. And loneliness. The same loneliness that she had always seen in Deidara, and the same that she had seen in Sasori when they had first met. The red head had lived a lonely life too, and that was why Konan knew that he would have never just left Deidara. He would only be ruining himself.

Just as Konan was about to speak, a flash of colour appeared in the distance. The figure was moving, and was definitely alive. For a moment she could sense the hope in the water, but a few moments later it fell back into despair. The figure ahead was not Sasori; it was a mermaid by the name of Ino.

Konan had once caught her in their territory, but it had been obvious that the only thing the blonde mermaid had been interested in were the flowers of the area. In the end, the blue haired mermaid had allowed the Konoha girl to come and go from the Akatsuki territory as long as she did not cause any trouble. Deidara instinctively glared at her, but Konan had been sure to alert all of the Akatsuki of the girl's presence in their territory.

Once they neared, the girl finally looked up at them, an expression of both surprise and relief on her face. "Konan! It is good to see you!" She smiled and eagerly turned her attention back to the undersea blooms. "Aren't they beautiful?"

"Of course they are." Konan had always loved the flowers here, but today there was no time to waste on blossoms. "Hey Ino, did you happen to see a merman pass this way? He has red hair and a red tail to match, along with the usual Akatsuki necklace."

"Oh, you mean Sasori?" She withdrew her attention from the flowers once again. The merman tensed at the mention of the name, and Konan also brightened up.

"You have seen him, un?"

"Yeah, he swam this way a few days ago." She shrugged her shoulders and settled her tail down on a rock, careful not to cover the flowers. "He went after a school of fish. It looked really weird actually." A very thin smile curved her lips, but there was a clear caution in her motions. "He was a little stupid, if you ask me. He went right up near the surface of the water, and I doubt he even realised that there was a boat in the area."

"A boat?" Both Konan and Deidara pipped up at once, and the blonde mermaid nodded with a shrug.

"Yeah. I didn't really see much of what happened. I saw the fish get scooped up in a net, and Sasori had disappeared along with them." She shrugged, but both females were shocked when Deidara suddenly lurched forward and grabbed Ino by her hair. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Why didn't you do anything to help him?" Deidara's voice was a vicious growl, and he bore his teeth as he pulled harder on her hair. "He was taken by humans, and you just sat and watched, un!"

"Deidara!" Konan grabbed the boy's wrists, tightening her own grip until Deidara finally let go of Ino's hair. The blonde mermaid swam a few paces away, but at least she did not flee.

"Why would I help him?" Her own voice was a growl as she fussed around with her flowing hair. "He is an Akatsuki! I only come here for the flowers. Aside from Konan, I have no warmth for your clan." She stuck up her nose and stopped messing with her hair so that she could cross her arms. "Besides, there is the sea-wide assumption that you guys are capable of looking after yourselves."

"You could have at least alerted us, un!" If looks could kill…

Ino flicked some hair out of her face and smiled at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? I am only allowed in this area of your territory because it is near the border! If I were to go any deeper into your territory, then I would be killed on sight!"

Deidara bit his tongue, knowing that what she said was true. There was no tolerance for outsiders in Akatsuki territory. If she were to go anywhere beyond the sea-flower field, there was the possibility that she would find their settlement. If she knew that location, then Pein would have to make sure she would never tell anyone from her clan. Only death awaited her in Akatsuki territory.

"Do you know anything about the ship?" Konan broke the silence, and Ino responded firstly by shrugging her shoulders.

"I didn't catch a name or anything. I certainly am not dumb enough to go up to the surface while there is a ship around!" She returned to fiddling with her hair, as if she were assessing her knowledge. "I did see the direction that it was headed though."

"You did?" Deidara brightened up in an instant as hope suddenly filled the air. "Where did it go?"

Ino shot him a sinister glare before turning to Konan, clearly disliking the blonde, which was not unsurprising after his earlier assault. "It was headed in that direction." She pointed behind her, towards the area that all merfolk avoided.

Land.

-x-

The room was a blur of weight and sleep. Sasori felt unbelievably heavy, lying on the hard bed, resisting the overpowered urge to fall into unconsciousness.

Ever since he had been brought to the room, he had been under heavy sedation. He knew that all he had to do was stand up and walk out the unlocked door, but his body refused to move.

His vision grew blurred as a wave of sleep tried to overtake him, but he fought the current with all the energy he had left. Sasori remained awake.

He still wore the clothes he had found on Orochimaru's ship, and he was almost grateful that no one had attempted to undress him. Even the snake of a man had done little more to Sasori after that kiss. The red head was merely property, and Orochimaru could not afford to damage him.

"Well, look at those sweet, bedroom eyes of yours~" Sasori only noticed Orochimaru after he had spoken. The snake had been sitting on a chair in front of him for who knows how long, and Sasori had failed to see him. The sedatives were even stronger that he had thought.

Sasori tried to speak, but he could barely move his tongue, let alone his lips. The only movement he could manage was the closure of his eyelids, but this only invited sleep. Just like that, he was lost in dreams.

-x-

The shore looked dark and foreboding in the darkness of night. Deidara felt disgusted at the mere sight of it, although he knew this sense of disgust was actually fear. It had been a long time since he had seen dry land this close, and he knew that their journey would only begin at the shoreline. "Do you really think he is somewhere is this town, un?" Deidara looked around, his face sour and sorrowful.

"We have no choice but to check it out." Konan was leading the way around a rocky outcrop, and her eyes were carefully scanning the area for danger. "Sasori is probably being held captive somewhere, and we have no idea what his captive's motives are, or even if they have a motive."

"Let's just get this over and done with." Deidara glared at the land, and his fear only grew once he heard the call of human voices. He hid most of his body underneath the water in panic, but Konan merely watched the two humans who went running, naked, into the ocean. It was obvious that the man and the woman had failed to notice the two merfolk hiding within the shadows, and in any case, they were far more interested in one another to look around.

"Young love." Konan smiled gently before turning her attention back to the mostly-submerged blonde. "Before we go diving into things, I want you to think really hard. What is it that humans have?"

"No sense of humour." Deidara said the first thing that came to mind, and this answer forced Konan to roll her eyes.

"Modesty; humans have modesty. Meaning that they also wear clothes, correct?" The blonde was blank and disgruntled, and Konan questioned why she had brought the human-hating merman along for the rescue mission. "Therefore, if we want to walk down the street without drawing attention, we have to get some clothes."

"Why, un?" He lifted an eyebrow and gestured to the (really) happy couple, skinny-dipping in the ocean. "They don't seem modest at all."

"It's different..." She suddenly paused as an idea crossed her mind. "Wait a second…Exactly!" Deidara tilted his head and she continued to sneak to the shore via the darkest of shadows. "Oh I am a genius!"

-x-

The streets were empty, but for a few drunkards on their hobble home and the peculiar duo who wandered the streets aimlessly. The male stumbled while he walked, and he had an arm over the girl's shoulder as she helped him. Any onlooker would have simply assumed that the woman was merely trying to help her drunken husband home. The truth was beyond their imagination.

"This is so uncomfortable, un. I don't know why humans bother." Deidara tugged at the shirt, feeling constricted by the clothing. It was annoying and itchy, and his alabaster skin was not used to human material.

"It's kind of ironic when you think about it." Konan grinned as she continued to help the struggling Deidara to walk on his new legs. He must have practiced with Sasori around, for the blonde was not doing such a terrible job of walking, even if he did require Konan's assistance. "We earned our modesty through human immodesty." She continued to smile, but Deidara just shot her a look of disdain. She could not blame him; the land was a strange place for sea dwellers, just as the sea had been so strange for her.

Konan remembered the day when she had joined the merfolk. It had been a week since she had lost everything, and she had been on the verge of starvation. Her clothes had already turned to tatters, and she had become a shell of the girl she had once been. On the same shore they had walked merely an hour ago was where she had decided to end it all. Standing on that shore, she decided to leave the world behind.

She dived into the water and she started to swim. Her mind had been set. She would swim. She would swim even when she could swim no more. There would never be a return for her, for there was nothing to come back to.

After days of swimming aimlessly, she had barely been able to move her limbs. She had started to sink, but she never ended her struggle. Only when her consciousness gave up did she finally stop swimming. She did not know what happened after that, but eventually she had awoken to find herself on a small cay. And he had been there.

Pein had sat beside her, looking both curious and concerned, and he had innocently been offering her a live fish. On the verge of starvation and dehydration, at the sight of the stranger offering her a fish, she had been unable to control her tired laughter. It seemed utterly absurd, and she had been unable to stop laughing for a long time.

Now back on the streets that she had deserted long ago, everything seemed both different and eerily the same.

"So where should we go?" Deidara continued to tug at his clothes, and Konan returned to reality.

"Easy. We head over to the Serpent's Tail." She pointed ahead, at a building with light pouring out of its dirty windows. "If there is a merman in Sunagakure, they would know there. But to blend in there, we have to act like the fearsome Akatsuki we are." A sly smile curved her lips, and her eyes grew cold.


	3. Chapter 3

**SasoDei - Ocean Blues**

A Sequel to Underneath Thunderstorms

**Part Three**

**A Commission for TerraKuman97**

It was impossible for the duo to not draw attention to themselves as they entered the bar. The blonde looked as if he had already been drinking, for he stumbled, and had to occasionally rely on furniture to keep himself standing, while just the sight of a female in this bar was enough to make any patron uneasy. The female walked with a decisive sway in her motions, as if she were swimming through the air.

Their faces were cold and unwavering as they paid no attention to the surrounding patrons. They walked straight to the bar and the blonde easily slid onto a stool, while the girl took to leaning against the counter.

Both boy and girl were amazingly beautiful, but the stoniness in their faces deterred even the drunkest of drinkers.

Konan caught the attention of the bar owner, a sleaze of a man by the name of Jiraiya. "Well, look what the tide dragged in." He stood in front of them, leaning heavily on the counter while he pulled out two glasses from beneath the bar. "Looks like lil Konan has finally returned from the dead." He filled one glass with alcohol before turning to eye Deidara, curious. "You look like you've _already_ had too much to drink."

"Forget about him." Konan drew the man's attention back to herself, downing the glass of alcohol in a single gulp, impressing the scum who still watched them. She slammed the glass on the table and eyed Jiraiya darkly, knowing exactly what questions to ask. "I'm interested in finding something."

"Everyone is trying to find something, sweetie." He leaned over the bar and poured the girl another drink, also filling the second glass for Deidara. Both glasses went untouched. "You have to be a bit more specific."

"I am looking for a fish." She spoke the word carefully and with emphasis. The dawn of realisation on Jiraiya's face was a relief, and almost comical.

His smile widened and he leaned in closer, dropping his voice to a low mumble. "Word is that Orochimaru has caught himself a curious catch in the last few days. Apparently he plans to auction this 'fish' for a pretty penny at midnight tonight."

"Any idea where?" As she spoke, Konan slid a shiny, golden doubloon across the countertop.

Jiraiya took the bribe with a grin. "At the old warehouse, just east of Sunagakure. Should only take about an hour to reach it, but you better hurry or you might miss out."

He winked and Konan straightened up, placing another gold doubloon on the counter, as payment for their drinks. "Thanks, old man." The bartender laughed at the name, and Konan downed the second glass of alcohol he had poured earlier, along with Deidara's untouched glass.

"Don't go getting yourself into trouble now, Konan, or else we might never meet again." He continued to smile, and Konan knew all that she needed.

"Deidara," she turned to the blonde, and he stood up sloppily, seeming out of place in the human scene. They turned to leave, but as they turned they were met by a group of three drunkards.

"Hey, pretty lady." The head of the group stepped close to her. He smelt of alcohol and arrogance. "You lookin' to make some pretty coinage? I can charge you by the hour."

Konan eyed him stoically, "I doubt you would last an hour." The man's supposed friends all snickered at his expense, and the man's cheeks grew flushed with embarrassment.

"What'd you say?" He growled and lunged at the woman, his fist held high.

The woman grabbed him by the approaching fist and flung him over her shoulder, slamming him down on top of a nearby table, breaking the wooden legs. The entire tavern stared at her in awe, utterly shocked by her display of strength. She straightened up and leisurely turned to look at Deidara. "Let's go."

The blonde nodded, and everyone moved out of their way, not prepared to risk another injured drunkard.

-x-

The warehouse was ahead, and it was obvious that something was going on inside. The lights were lit and several carriages were pulled up outside of it, the horses eagerly waiting for the return of their owners. "That's the place. They must be keeping Sasori locked up there." Konan pointed as she spoke, and Deidara nodded with a flash of determination lighting his face.

"If Danna is being held captive in there, then we must rescue him." Deidara marched ahead, still unsure on his feet, and Konan followed behind him eagerly.

They did not have to sneak into the building as they had originally thought; the door to the warehouse was wide open, with a mixture of people already swarming around it. Some were clearly wealthier than others, and there was a distinct separation between the classes attending, but all had come to see - and perhaps purchase - Orochimaru's supposed 'Catch'.

Deidara and Konan joined the group without suspicion. The warehouse was filled with seats, all facing a giant tank that was filled with water, but no merman. "Are you sure he'll be here, un?"

"It's the best lead we've got." Konan frowned and continued to look around, but they were interrupted by the approach of a stranger.

"You guys got word as well?" The duo turned to look at the boy who had approached them. He had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and despite his warmth, neither Akatsuki member had seen him before. "To think that Orochi actually managed to catch a merman!" The boy laughed and held out his hand, a common human gesture of politeness. "My name is Naruto, by the way."

Konan smiled with equal warmth and took the offered hand, although Deidara was clearly cold towards the blonde. "I'm Konan, and this here is Deidara." Her eyes turned back to the tank, but she kept the frown from forming once again. "This place just seems so ill fitting for such a high-class auction. Besides, if you caught a merman, wouldn't you want to keep it for yourself?"

"He's probably more interested in the money than in the actual merman." Naruto shrugged and led them to a group of empty seats, all with numbered paddles on. "I'm just hoping that the merman is in good condition."

"He will be." Deidara barked the comment a bit too urgently, before he could cut himself off. It must have been hard for him to believe otherwise.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, before he quickly spoke up. "Do you guys know how to auction?"

Konan nodded, but Deidara just shrugged his shoulders aloofly, glaring at nothing in particular.

People began to move for the chairs, and once the seats were all taken, the head of the auction stepped forward. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am Orochimaru." A man with long black hair stood before the tank. His clothes were neat, his skin was pale, and he sent shivers up Deidara's spine. "I thank you all for coming this late at night, but I assure you that it will be worth it. You see, what I have to offer is something seldom seen by mortal eyes. What I have to offer you, fair ladies and gentlemen, is a creature of myth."

A slow murmur ran through the crowd, and Deidara bit his lip, anxious to find out about the red head's safety. What if the supposed 'myth' that this man had found wasn't Sasori?

"Now now, don't be alarmed, all of you who are expecting to see a beast of hell," Orochimaru chuckled briefly, "I assure you that _this_ creature is particularly _pleasing_ to the eye. For it is not a demon that I show tonight, nor is it a banshee; no, the creature of myth that I offer to you…" A stumbling figure was pushed onto the stage, with two tough men at its side, "Is a merman."

And there stood Sasori, barely able to stand, wearing nothing but a red coat and a blindfold. Two men struggled to keep him standing, and Deidara couldn't even tell if his lover was conscious.

The blonde made a move to stand, to go to his love, but he was stopped by both Konan and Naruto. "He's okay." The bluenette took a tight hold of his wrist, "He's not hurt; they probably just gave him a sedative to make their job easier."

Deidara shivered, but he didn't try to stand. Konan was right; Sasori was okay. The blonde couldn't see a single scratch on the red head's body, and it was made clear that Sasori was conscious when the red head tried to take a step forward.

-o-

Sasori couldn't see anything through the blindfold, and his head felt like a whirlpool. His limbs were heavy and his brain felt like mush, but he knew what was happening to him. He was being sold like common livestock. He could hear the people in the room, but he couldn't how many there were. However, he knew for certain that there were at least three. The two men at his sides, who kept him from falling…

And Orochimaru.

"Now I know what you're thinking!" The snake's voice sounded like nails down a chalkboard, "But I assure you that this is no ordinary man." Sasori felt a cold hand grip his chin, and a wave of nausea swept through him at the mere touch. "You see, my friend here truly is a merman. He is fearsome, untamed, and his beauty is beyond words~" The hand ran over his cheek, and the red head shuddered at the sensation. "We had to give him some heavy sedatives just to keep him in line, but I am sure that many of you would accept the challenge of taming this mystical creature."

"How do we know he is really a merman?" Despite the haze, Sasori realised that he knew the speaker's voice. It was a voice from a lifetime ago.

Of course Naruto would be in the audience! He had always claimed that he had once seen a merman with his own two eyes.

"Well, boy, I am prepared to give you all a demonstration." Orochimaru tapped something, and Sasori could only register the sound of glass. "The instructions are very simple for this creature, you see. You just need to add water~"

Sasori felt himself get pushed forward by the two cronies, and he felt himself being lifted. One moment passed, and the two men vanished from his world of darkness.

They were replaced by the cold hands of ice water.

He sunk to the bottom of the tank, and he could hear no more. Sasori could barely move his tail as he hit the bottom; the single limb was far heavier than his two legs had been.

As he tried to sit up, all he could think about was Deidara, and how he wished he could tell the blonde just where he was. Deidara would never know that Sasori had been taken. He would probably spend the rest of his life wondering what he had done to make the red head leave, and that was what broke Sasori.

He couldn't speak in his sedated state; all he could do was mouth the name of the one he loved.

-o-

The blonde watched, horrified, as Sasori sunk to the bottom of the tank, but he almost cried out when he saw the red head mouth his name. Even when he could barely move, Sasori was still thinking about Deidara. Seeing the red head so helpless was unbearable, and he struggled to keep his composure.

Konan's grip on his wrist tightened, reassuringly, and it was just enough to keep him quiet.

The damn snake continued talking with a sickening smile. "So you see, ladies and gentlemen, I offer to you…a merman." The room exploded in a series of murmurs and whispers, all in awe. "Now, shall we start the bidding at…10,000?"

Several paddles flew into the air. The auction began.


End file.
